“How did you get in here so silently? The door was shut,” I mutter, putting the plate down. “And for your information, Maddox is sleeping, and I was going to make us breakfast. Then I burnt the toast, so I’m starting over.”
Cross shuts the door behind him and walks over, lowering his voice. “Be careful.”
“I always am,” I whisper back, ignoring the fact that I’m totally and completely lying. The last four days with Maddox have been nothing more than orgasms after orgasms. I mean, he did feed me and showed me more of his paintings. Maddox explained each one of them, and it was like looking into his mind, understanding a part of him I didn’t know about before. He is a tortured soul, I can see that, and for some reason, I think I make him better. Cross is right, we have gotten a lot closer in this last week. He walks over, flicking on the tap, and the loud water noise fills the room.
“I don’t think you are,” Cross replies. “Are you in love with him?”
“If I was, wouldn’t I be dead? The curse and all,” I say, waving a hand. “Clearly, I’m fine, so that answers your own question.”
“The curse is for Maddox. I know he doesn’t love you, because as you put it, you are alive,” he replies, and a sinking feeling hits my chest.
“I’m not in love with him. I still want to leave,” I snap back with a little too much emotion than I should have. Cross raises an eyebrow but says nothing. “It’s just sex. Nothing more.”
“If you say so,” Cross replies, switching the tap off. “Perhaps you should go to Maddox’s living room. He just ordered his own breakfast,” Cross suggests, waving at the door.
Furrowing my brow, I leave my half-arsed attempt at breakfast on the side and go out of the door. Cross doesn’t follow me, and I pull my red cloak around my shoulders to ward off the chill in the castle. I take the steps two at a time until I get to the bottom and head to the doors. One of the doors is open, and I hear heavy breathing before I step through the gap. Maddox has a woman in his arms, a red-headed woman in a brown sari, and he is drinking from her neck. His black hair covers his face, and her eyes are wide, almost parted in pleasure as she heavily breathes.
I don’t move, not for a long time, and he doesn’t notice me. If he does, he doesn’t make a move to stop feeding on her. I know he is going to kill her and I turn around. Angry tears fall down my cheeks as I storm outside the castle, ignoring the bellboy’s attempts to talk to me. The red snow pushes against my boots the further I walk away from the castle, down the pathways.
I’m so stupid.
Of course he hasn’t stopped feeding on people. I just pretended he wasn’t doing it and convinced myself that he might change, he might not be the monster I know he is. I’ve been playing with the devil; I don’t know why I didn’t expect to get burned. I find a rocky ledge to the cliff, a smooth piece of rock, and I climb off the path and sit down with my back to the rock. Part of me knows it is dangerous to sit here, but another part of me doesn’t care all that much.
I could do with advice from Sophie, but even then, I don’t know what she would say to me about all this. She was always team Arlo and Riona, but I never was. I know for certain from that kiss, because I felt nothing.
Nada.
It was like a family member kissing me. It didn’t rock my soul or make my heart jump or give me butterflies.
Not like someone else does. And all he has to do is look my way.
But he isn’t good like Arlo, he is fifty shades of fucked up.
My thoughts drift away when I hear water dripping. I look up, seeing the clouds all look white and clear, and I can’t feel rain on my face. The water dripping sound gets louder and louder, and I follow it to the edge of the rock where water is appearing out of nowhere, slowly building up and up. Suddenly the water spins around like a hurricane and then disappears, leaving Natalia standing on the edge of the rock ledge. Her black hair falls around her, and it’s the only bit of cover she has on. As the wind moves her hair, I pretty much see everything.
“You are difficult to get alone, Riona Dark,” Natalia claims, with her French accent. Wiping some of my tears away, I stand up as she walks over. She reaches across, touching my cheek with the tip of her finger. I freeze, wondering what the hell she is doing. “Did you know sirens were once human? We are created in the ocean, and the sea takes our feelings away with our memories of our human life.”
“You were once human?” I softly ask. Strangely, I don’t feel like she is going to hurt me. Maybe it’s the effect sirens have on people as, even though I’m aware she is a magical being with great power, I always feel unthreatened in her presence.
She lowers her hand, looking away for a second. “I was, and I wish I could remember my past.” She turns back to me. “But you could choose the way of the sirens, wash all those feelings of pain away in the sea. I would help you.”
“The good feelings come with the bad,” I reply. “So no, thank you for your offer.”
“Shame. I believe you would make a beautiful siren in my clan,” she sighs. “But the offer will remain there.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“No, I am here to show you something very special, and I want no one else to ever see it,” she tells me. “But perhaps some knowledge on sirens will explain this better.”
“Maybe,” I reply with a small smile.
She smiles back. “Sirens can channel the sea’s energy, the energy the sea receives from the humans and animals who die in the waters, to see the future for a few seconds. I dived down into the deepest oceans to use this power, to see what is in our future, and it was about you.”
“Me?” I ask with wide eyes. She steps even closer to me and places both her hands on the side of my head.
“Let me show you,” she asks. Curious, I nod. She closes her eyes and suddenly her hands feel like ice, and I scream as pain shoots through my head. I close my eyes, and then I see a blurry image. The image slowly comes into focus, and I see myself. I’m standing on a roof, and the city is on fire around me. Flames touch everything in sight, and I’m holding a ball of light in my hands, staring down at it. The image fades and blurs once more. This one slowly comes into focus, and it’s me and Maddox. His forehead is pressed against mine, and this time we are on a ship. The ship is on fire, but neither of us seems to notice. The image fades once more, and I suddenly feel sick as I start to hear my heartbeat in my ear. My heartbeat sounds slower and slower as one more image comes into focus.
This time I’m on the floor, a man standing over me, but I can’t make out more than his jean-covered legs and folded arms. I’m dead, that’s clear. Five glowing white daggers are plunged into my body.
I gasp as I suddenly drop to the ground, my head ringing and a headache there that wasn’t before.
“You didn’t mention how much that would hurt,” I mutter, climbing to my feet.
Natalia simply laughs and shrugs her tiny shoulders. “Great knowledge always comes with a painful price.”
“So I’m going to die?” I ask.
She turns away, looking over the city I just saw on fire in her vision. “Yes, but death is not always the end in this world. Stay on the island, Riona, embrace your fate.”